This invention relates to a weighted exercising garment, for use in exercising the human body as an aid to health and fitness.
It is well established that weight training, or resistance training, advances the performance of the body's muscle system, strength and stamina. A multitude of weighted devices have been developed for this purpose. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,602,387 and 4,268,917 disclose loose-fitting vests with pockets that can be filled with weights, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,442 and united Kingdom Patent Application GB-A-2 129 281 show similar vests with weight-filled pockets which are made more snugly fitting by horizontal straps that can be tightened on the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,302 describes a similar sort of vest with horizontal straps which pass round the wearer's torso and can be tightened to hold the vest snugly in contact with the wearer's chest and back. A number of flat weights are attached as desired to the front and back panels of the vest by the use of curly pile loop and hook fastener material as sold under the registered trade mark VELCRO. Thus weights can be added or removed as desired for an individual's training schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,369 reverts to a loose fitting exercise suit comprising a separate jacket and pants, with numerous pockets which carry bags of liquid to provide the desired weights. The pockets cover the torso, the arms from shoulder to wrist, and the legs from crutch to ankle. It is stated that instead of being formed as a two-piece suit, the suit may be constructed as a one-piece jump suit. With this suit the user can apparently carry up to of the order of 200 lbs (90 kg) weight, but this amount distributed in the unplanned manner described would not serve any useful exercising function, and would at the least be unbearably uncomfortable and could be positively dangerous.
To the present inventor's knowledge none of the above-mentioned exercise garments have actually been satisfactory for widespread use. Despite the plethora of pockets they do not provide a distribution of weights which strengthens the required muscles properly. Furthermore they are inconvenient to wear as, despite measures purporting to inhibit it, they still move around on the body and do not give the wearer the confidence that they are going to stay put during hard physical exercise. Finally, many of the garments are inelegant and out of keeping with modern sports environments.